At the end of the game, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

This saying is commonly cited as an Italian proverb drawing on the imagery of chess: during play, pieces have sharply different powers and status, but once the game ends they are all returned to the same container. Like many proverbs, it circulates orally and in print without a single identifiable “first” author or fixed date. It is often invoked in moral or reflective contexts—sermons, essays on humility, or discussions of social hierarchy—to underscore the leveling force of death or the end of worldly striving. The chess metaphor makes the point vivid across classes and eras, since the game’s hierarchy mirrors human social ranks.

The proverb uses chess to argue that distinctions of rank are temporary. In the game, the king commands attention and the pawn seems expendable; yet when play is over, both are equally inert objects put away together. The “same box” functions as a metaphor for the grave, oblivion, or the ultimate accounting that renders wealth, power, and prestige irrelevant. The line can be read as a call to humility for the powerful and as consolation for the lowly: present inequalities are real, but not final. It also critiques overinvestment in status, reminding readers that life’s end collapses social theater into common fate.

• "When the game is over, the king and the pawn go into the same box."
• "At the end of the game, the king and the pawn return to the same box."
• "Once the game is finished, king and pawn are put back in the same box."